[ILUG] EU Rejects Patent Software Law - For Now

[Brian Foster]

  | Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 11:07:29 +0000
  | From: Bryan O'Donoghue <typedef at eircom.net>
  |[ ... ]
  | “United States Patent Application  	20040230959
  |  IS NOT OPERATOR
  |  Abstract
  |   A system, method and computer-readable medium support the
  |   use of a single operator that allows a comparison of two
  |   variables to determine if the two variables point to the
  |   same location in memory.”
  |[ ... ]

 being bored out of my skull (or perhaps still under the
 influence of the nice wine I had with dinner?  ;-)  ),
 I decided to take a look at the patent application to
 see just what was being claimed/patented.

 Ok, here's the great secret.  here is the amazing novel
 invention upon which a monopoly is demanding monopoly
 ownership.  upon which the world will collapse (and
 Denmark will lose c.800 jobs) if it is not granted.
 the Sun will stop in its orbit around the Earth, this
 is so amazing.  it makes some of yer body organs both
 larger and green, but only if you first FAX me yer bank
 details so I can deposit a couple of million quid I
 desperately need to give you.  and then ... <<stop!
 stop!  now I'm being too cynical even for meself...>>

 it is a new keyword in compiled versions of BASIC.

 yep!  that is what the patent is about.  apparently,
 there is an `Is' infix boolean binary operator in
 BASIC which is true iff. the two operands reference
 the same object.  but there is, apparently, no easy
 why to negate that (this _is_ BASIC we are talking
 about).  so the invention is a new operator which
 is the logical inverse of `Is':

    “The keyword for the single operator may be "IsNot",
     "is_not" or any other suitable keyword which
     reasonably conveys the concept of "is not".”

 please note I am not a legal beagle or lawyer, and
 do not eat hedgehogs (peeled or not).  but my naivé
 reading of the patent is the above one-line summary,
 “it is a new keyword in compiled versions of BASIC.”

 as such, the only practical threat this patent is
 (er, might be, if it were granted) is nil --- who
 the fsck uses BASIC?  of course, at a different
 level, this absurdity, besides being a waste of
 time and effort, helps to establish a precedent
 resulting in genuinely harmful (software) patents.

 ( and it would make my job bloody annoying if my
  employer were to insist I help to file patents
  for scores of broadly similar “inventions” I've
  made in the past!   (not to mention the usual
  issues about then perhaps also having to search
  for patents when actually doing my job.) )

cheers!
	-blf-
-- 
Experienced (20+ yrs) kernel/software Eng: | Brian Foster   Montpellier,
 • Unix, embedded, &tc;  • Linux;  • doc;  | blf at utvinternet.ie   FRANCE
 • IDL, automated testing, process, &tc.   |  Stop E$$o (ExxonMobile)!
Résumé (CV) http://www.blf.utvinternet.ie  |     http://www.stopesso.com